Travel has always been an inspiration for writing. I recently took a trip to Hawaii, and I’ve collected my daily thoughts here. While stopping in various gift shops, I noticed that Mark Twain also chronicled his own trip to Hawaii. I’m not saying I’m similar to Twain, though we can both totally pull off a mustache, but maybe someday somebody somewhere will read this and get the urge to write their own experiences out in the great wide world. Travel inspires more travel for sure. I know I came back with an itch, both swimmers, and for travel. Unlike our adventure to Disney World, I did not take my kids on this trip. This trip wasn’t for them, it was for me and my wife. Though thoughts of them were often near, their bodies, attitudes, and bed times were far, far away. It was nice. Anyway, here is where my mind went each day.
3/1/2026: Hey, I’m In Hawaii
As I write this, I am on a hotel balcony looking out at a green mountain stretched up to the clouds, who scrap its peaks as they drift by. Pretty neat, huh? I hear birds that aren’t crows. They may just be Hawaii’s version of crows, but to me they are tropical birds of paradise. We got to Hawaii yesterday, but I don’t think it sank in. Between the travel and time change, all the rush and hurry, it didn’t hit me. But I’ll let the warm wash over me. Let the sight of palm trees replace the sight of a Chinese man hocking a loogie into a napkin in the middle of the Dallas airport. Who am I kidding, nothing will ever bleach that from my memory. Either way, I am here. I am present. I am relaxing. I am unplugging. I am realizing these birds are eyeballing my protein bar. Regardless, I will experience this, I will enjoy this, I will savor this. To say I earned this sounds like a shitty kind of thing to say, but I worked for this and I planned for this. If this isn’t worth the time spent in a 9 to 5, then what is? Don’t take it for granted and don’t rush time. This is a moment in a lifetime of moments, and yes, all moments should be enjoyed. But this is the stuff those other moments build to. Be grateful you are here. Enjoy the day.
3/2/2026 – Lifestyle Aspirations
Officially, fuck birds. Not content with eyeballing my breakfast yesterday, a pigeon stalked me for my dinner as well. In a restaurant. At my table. Sure, it was open air, but respect some boundaries bird. Yesterday really felt like vacation and no longer traveling. I have arrived, and I have immediately fallen in love with the lifestyle. Tommy Bahama is my spirit animal. I wouldn’t go as far as to say the ocean calls me. I am a firm believer that that the ocean is constantly trying to murder you. But it sure is fun to be next to. I get what Jimmy Buffet was singing about. Yesterday I sat in an infinity hot tub drinking a mai tai and a pina colada. I am not sure what the Buddhists think nirvana is like, but I am pretty sure I figured it out. Enlightenment is an ocean-adjacent cocktail. But I wasn’t lazy, I set a record for most steps taken in a day. Living is an action verb. Experience live, and even take vacations, in motion. It will either move right past you, or you can move along with it. Time to relax is great, but going out and doing is essential to a healthy life. So go live. Go see. Go do. In comfortable shoes and a shirt with flowers on it. It is your life, live it in your style.
3/3/2026 – Who Brought All These Kids?
I am on this vacation without my kids, but it seems a lot of other people here didn’t have the same thought. I guess I’m surprised how many little kids I see. I don’t think it ever occurred to us to pack up little kids who need a minivan full of stuff just for a weekend trip no Nanna’s and take them across a country and and ocean. Yes, I have to share experiences with my kids and enjoy vacations together. But the key word there is enjoy. If diapers, feedings, or tantrums come into the equation, then it isn’t much fun anymore. It is a chore. It is the task of parenting, not the art of vacationing. Walking past the kiddie pool at the hotel, I can’t help but think – thank God I’m not here. The adult only pool deck is preferable. Though, yesterday two kids, maybe 5 or 7, came in the adult hot tub. It wasn’t my place to politely tell them to get the hell out, so I didn’t. I figured an embarrassed parent would be by to scoop up their kids shortly. The parent did come by, but he got in the hot tub with them. Listen buddy, you made the questionable decision to bring your kids here, don’t rub that off on my good time. Choices have consequences, now go back to the kiddie pool and listen to the screaming. I’ve got a mai tai to drink.
3/4/2026 – You Bring Yourself on Vacation
Of all the things you pack for vacation, you is one of them. Including your digestive and immune systems. Emily caught some sort of bug and was sick yesterday. Put a bit of a damper on the whole being in paradise thing. Kind of broke the 4th wall of reality. The real world is out there, but we’re not supposed to acknowledge it. But perhaps it also created a special new memory. First time in Hawaii and the first time I watched my wife throw up in a to-go box that still had a half-eaten muffin in it. Who says we’re an old married couple? Look at us doing fun new stuff! So she was in bed sick, but I was still on vacation. I went to the brewery while she slept. Seat for one at the bar for happy hour. Met a nice couple of fellow mid-westerners at the bar. We made small talk about sports and PJ Fleck. “Where is your wife?” they asked. Well, let me tell you. She was still her. I am still me. We are us in paradise. Latitudes may change attitudes, but they don’t change your body. The question is how can I bring that attitude back home? How can I use a vacation not just as a temporary escape, but as an experience I can use to shape myself and grow and appreciate life in the normal everydayness of it. Perhaps I could institute own personal happy hour at home? Create my backyard version of hanging out by the ocean? Wear more clothes built for comfort and less for fending off frostbite? We’ll see, but if our real selves crashed the party of our vacation selves, it only seems fair for our vacation selves to return the favor.
Things I do alone in Hawaii while my wife is sleeping in the middle of the day: hang out at the pool, shop for Hawaiian shirts, drink some beer, take in a sunset.
3/5/2026 – You Gonna Eat That?
Does how I eat on vacation make me a food snob? To be fair, I was already leaning toward the snobby end of the food eating spectrum, but I think vacationing brings it out more. One of my biggest disappointments of this trip so far has been that the coffee shop on our hotel is a Starbucks. Not only that, but I had it once. Might as well get dinner from McDonald’s while I’m at it. Now this is not to say I have some crazy high bar. We had dinner last night and coffee this morning from food trucks. Lunch today was from a little cafe. I don’t need the fanciest thing on the menu, but I do want a local and unique menu. Isn’t that part of vacationing? To get something I can’t get at home? I think so. I had some locally grown and made chocolate today. I will never look at a Hershey bar the same. Trash candy. And I don’t know if I’ll be able to eat frozen fish from Aldi again. I mean, I will, but it will taste a little sadder than before. I have expanded my tastes and developed my palate. I want the good stuff. And Taco Bell. But mostly the good stuff.
3/6/2026 – The Canadian Tugboat Captain
The people you meet on vacation – a real mixed bag. I find myself looking around and wondering what these other people do for a living. Like, oh that guy is staying at a nice resort, he must have a really good job. Or that guy has a really nice shirt, I wonder what he does for a living. I guess I just assume that everyone else here is wealthy. Vacation impostor syndrome. I’m here too. Is anybody looking at me thinking that I must be rich to be here? Probably not. And it is interesting to see where people are from. You make a little small talk and find out who is from where. Lots of couples from the Midwest escaping the cold. Lots of people from California escaping California. And at least one Canadian. Tugboat captain. Just spent a good 15 minutes minutes in the hot tub chatting with a friendly man from Vancouver. He asked what we did and where we are from. He couldn’t have given a bigger shit that I work in marketing, but it isn’t everyday I meet a tugboat captain. We talked about his job, not mine. We had follow up questions. He had none. He recommended where to eat, he told us to just tell the people at Duke’s that it is your birthday and they will give you free cake. I got the distinct impression that he has gotten free cake there on days other than his birthday. And he seemed like the type to color outside the lines. My first hint was that when I told him I grew up just across the river from Canada and went over there from time to time, he immediately cracked a joke about smuggling blow. I now question if he is also transporting undocumented cargo on his tugboat. After we chatted, he let us know that if we were done with our access bracelets that we could just leave them under that rock over there. His was getting faded he said, and he didn’t want to have to pay for a new one. Guy isn’t even staying at this resort. Just wearing a recycled wrist band to into the hot tub so he can chat up the source of his next access bracelet. I expected better from a Canadian. He invited us down to the beach for some POG and vodka. Pass. I don’t want a beach side cocktail with strings attached. I think I’d rather to go back to not knowing anybody or what they do than finding out that they are Canadian tugboat captains out to score a pool pass. And possibly some blow.
In sharp contrast to the shady maritime Canuck, I also met some lovely Canadians who happened to be the owners of my favorite clothing company. There I was standing by the pool when a lady comes up and asks me where I got my shirt. I told her it’s from a company called Tentree, and she was like, I know – that is my company. She asked if I was from Canada, probably assuming I found it is a store there, but seemed genuinely excited to hear I am from the states and found their clothes online. Maybe 20 minutes later I also ran into her husband, who was equally super nice and super thankful that I like their clothes. I pointed him and his little son in the direction of the hot tub. I don’t care if it is adults only, he deserves it.
3/7/2026 – Well, That Was Fun
All good things come to an end. The view of palm trees and whales peeking out of the ocean has been replaced by the view of the back of the seat in front of me and pitch darkness out the window. I am currently in the air and about 7.5 hours away from landing at our layover. Much less exciting to retrace your steps back home than to make them the first time. Not that I’m not excited to be back home for some things – my own bed, my kids, my own brand of soap, not paying inflated sums of money for everything I eat and drink. Can’t say I’m looking forward to going back to work on Monday. But at least I’ll have some fresh motivation to work – so I can afford my next vacation. I hope I can bring home a bit of my travels and add some of the things I’ve experienced to my normal life. I think that is an important part of traveling. Don’t just bring home a t-shirt, bring home some perspective, some knowledge, some appreciation, and some culture. And a hat. And a mug. Do gotta love a good souvenir. And now I wonder, where to next?
I Think Therefore I Dad 